April 26, 2015
“Man’s greatness is so obvious that it can even be deduced from his wretchedness…. Man’s greatness and wretchedness are so evident that the true religion must necessarily teach us that there is in man some great principle of greatness and some great principle of wretchedness. It must also account for such amazing contradictions.” — Blaise […]
Tags: Adam and Eve, Blaise Pascal, C. John "Jack" Collins, G.K. Chesterton, greatness of Man, humanity, Is Genesis historical?, Leon Kass, nature of Man, Pensees, The Fall of Man, wretchedness of Man
Posted in Religion |
April 21, 2015
“Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is today’s mushy moderate candidate who may well follow in the footsteps of a whole string of similar losers, from Mitt Romney and John McCain in recent elections, all the way back to Thomas E. Dewey, who managed to lose even in an election where three different Democrats were on […]
Tags: 2016 presidential elections, George Hewes, GOP contenders, Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Republican candidates
Posted in Politics |
April 19, 2015
As I work my way slowly, intermittently through Thomas Sowell’s rather large text, Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy, (4th ed., 2011), I find myself wanting to share, well, almost all of it. Of course, that’s not going to happen, but I will probably post on a few more topics from this […]
Tags: Basic Economics, difference in productivity, discrimination against women, equal pay for women, equality, feminist claims, interpreting statistics, reasons for less pay, sex differential, systemic effects of competition, Thomas Sowell, war on women
Posted in Politics |
April 12, 2015
“It appears unfounded to doubt the fact of Jesus’ honorable burial — even historically considered.” — Wolfgang Trilling, distinguished NT scholar and German redaction critic Burial As a modern-day Westerner, when I think of burial of a person’s remains, I picture them usually in a coffin/casket, which is lowered into a large rectangular hole, which […]
Tags: burial of Jesus, burial tradition, credibility of Bible, Day of Preparation, Gospel record, historical reliability of biblical accounts, Jesus' tomb, Joseph of Arimathea, linen wrappings and spices, Pontius Pilate, Resurrection of Jesus Christ, shallow grave and devoured by dogs, William Lane Craig, Wolfgang Trilling, women at the tomb, wrong tomb
Posted in Religion |
April 9, 2015
“Except for the romantic few who think that Jesus did not die on the cross but woke up in the tomb and ran off to India with Mary Magdalene, most scholars accept the uniform testimony of the Gospels that Jesus died.” — Raymond E. Brown, distinguished (though somewhat controversial) Catholic scholar and emeritus professor of […]
Tags: Barbara Thiering, Begg and Ferguson, could Jesus have survived?, crucifixion of Jesus, David F. Strauss, death of Jesus, Hugh Schonfield, JAMA study on crucifixion, Jewish tombs, Name Above All Names, physiological effects of crucifixion, physiological effects of flogging and beatings, Roman practice, substitutionary atonement, Swoon Theory
Posted in Religion |
April 5, 2015
In the first entry in this series of posts, we looked at a few (but not all) early, non-Christian references to the death by crucifixion of Jesus Christ, as well as variations of one popular theory that claims Jesus of Nazareth did not die on a Roman cross. In the second entry, we examined the […]
Tags: blood and water flowed, cardiac arrhythmias, Christ crucified, crossbeam, crown of thorns, crucifixion of Jesus, crushed median nerve, death of Jesus, death on the Cross, excruciating pain, Golgotha, hypoventilation, hypovolemic shock, Jesus Christ's final hours, physiological effects of crucifixion, pleural effusion, Simon of Cyrene, slow death by asphyxiation, spikes through wrists, the extreme penalty
Posted in Religion |
April 2, 2015
Physical Exhaustion & Trauma Anguish in the Olive Grove: To examine the physical exhaustion and trauma that Jesus experienced during His final hours, we must begin in Gethsemane. It was there that He knelt in fervent prayer, knowing that His imminent suffering and death were fast approaching. The Bible says that He was distressed and […]
Tags: Annas, beard ripped out, beating of Jesus, burial of Jesus, Caiaphas, crown of thorns, death of Jesus, Easter, flogging of Jesus, hematidrosis, hypovolemic shock, physiological effects of flogging and beatings, Pontius Pilate, Roman flagrum, scourging, severe loss of blood
Posted in Religion |
March 29, 2015
It’s getting close to Easter (aka “Resurrection Day”) again and, as usual, I wanted to come up with something relevant for my readers. I was casting about for something with a theological/apologetical flavor and eventually remembered an old manuscript I was working on back in 2003 & 2004, which I decided to, um, resurrect. So, […]
Tags: Alex Metherell, burial of Jesus, Cornelius Tacitus, crucifixion, death of Jesus, Easter, extreme penalty, Flavius Josephus, Gary Habermas, Imposter Theory, John Crossan, Palm Sunday, resurrection of Jesus, The Antiquities, was Jesus really crucified
Posted in Religion |
March 22, 2015
A few weeks ago, I said I would be sharing a few more passages from Dr. David Bentley Hart’s book Atheist Delusions. In this citation from early in the book, Hart is in the midst of pointing out some of the bad arguments, poor understanding of both religion and history, and sanctimony in the anti-religious […]
Tags: Atheist Delusions, Breaking the Spell, correcting skeptics, Daniel Dennett, David Bentley Hart, defending Christianity, Easter, getting history right, Reasons to Believe, reasons to kill, religious experience, responding to "new atheists", responding to skeptics, Sam Harris, why people believe in religion, why people kill
Posted in Politics, Politics / Science / Religion, Religion, Science |
March 15, 2015
“You have to go to the doctor. You have to be diagnosed with the debilitating disease or medical condition. You have to get that diagnosis in writing. You have to send that written diagnosis to the Department of Health and wait for the department to send you an identification card in order to become a […]
Tags: cannabis product, CARERS Act, Compassionate Access, Controlled Substances Act, effects of pot, federally illegal substance, legalization of medical marijuana, need for tightly-written laws, pro-cannabis, Research Expansion and Respect States Act, Schedule I, Schedule II
Posted in Politics |